A Sainsbury's representative told Business Insider by email,
however, that the statement made in The Times about Coupe's
conviction was "incorrect." There "are no restrictions on Mike's
travel whatsoever," the representative wrote.

Sainsbury's appealed the conviction.

A company representative told The Times that the group was
unaware that the court hearings were happening and denied all the
allegations against him.

We are aware of media coverage today outlining a legal case in
Egypt brought against our Chief Executive Mike Coupe. This
relates to a historic commercial dispute in which Mike Coupe had
no involvement and we strongly refute all the allegations.

Mike Coupe was not employed by Sainsbury's at the time of the
original business deal in 2001 and has never met the complainant.

When Mr El Nasharty bought our interest in the Egyptian joint
venture we had with him in 2001, he paid us with cheques that
were dishonoured. Mr El Nasharty is now claiming that Mike was in
Egypt on 15th July 2014 and seized these cheques, which is an
impossibility. Mike Coupe was in London carrying out his normal
duties that day. In September 2014 Mike Coupe was convicted,
without notice of the proceedings against him and in his absence,
in an Egyptian Court. We have taken all necessary steps to appeal
against these groundless claims and will continue to do so.

This process is being handled by our legal team and we do not
anticipate it having any material operational or financial impact
on the company.

And to make the situation even clearer, the business editor of
ITV News tweeted this:

I can confirm that on July 15th 2014 Mike Coupe was not in Cairo "seizing cheques," he was in London having breakfast with me. And he paid.

The conviction stems from Sainsbury's attempt to enter the
Egyptian market in 1999. It bought an 80% stake in Egyptian
Distribution Group, also known as Edge.

But Sainsbury's and its acquisition faced fierce opposition from
the Egyptian people and a boycott of its stores in Cairo and
Giza. Less than two years after trying to enter the market, it
made £10 million ($15.3 million) of operating losses and
withdrew from the country.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury's apparently sold back its Edge shares to
its founder Amr El Nasharty when it left the country in 2014. El
Nasharty said he was forced to take a charge of £111 million
($170.3 million) to cover its losses.

He then claimed for compensation from Sainsbury's after saying he
was unaware when he was sold back the shares that the business
was insolvent and had substantial tax liabilities.

In July last year, Coupe took over from Justin King as CEO.
Egyptian authorities alleged that he attempted to seize the
cheques from the defunct company.

According to The Times, Coupe attended a court date in September
against his conviction and was accompanied by Sainsbury's
executives, security staff, and the British ambassador John
Casson.

"Attending court was the only option available to us. Failure to
attend would have resulted in a confirmation of the conviction,"
a representative told The Times, adding that the allegations were
baseless.

"Mike was not even employed by Sainsbury's at the time of the
original business deal in 2001 which gave rise to these legal
proceedings and has never met the complainant Mr. El Nasharty.
Mr. El Nasharty has consistently made false allegations against
Sainsbury's and individuals within the business over the years,
all of which have been unsuccessful."